


the hardest part is through

by gremlinworm



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Bounty Hunters, Cowboy AU, F/F, Western, kinda past lovers to enemies to partners, like vaguely
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-01-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:01:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22372246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gremlinworm/pseuds/gremlinworm
Summary: “There a problem?” Nayeon lifted her head to find not the bartender but the traveler, and not just any traveler, but someone she once knew; Her breath caught in her throat.Jihyo gave a wide smile, hair shorter and covered in a wide-brimmed hat, sliding herself and the drink closer to Nayeon. “You tell me partner.”
Relationships: Im Nayeon/Park Jisoo | Jihyo
Comments: 1
Kudos: 44





	the hardest part is through

**Author's Note:**

> this is a (late) birthday gift for my buddy el! sorry it's so late but hope you like it, love ya lots!

Nayeon sunk further into the booth, her hand curled around the half empty glass as she surveyed the saloon. 

Some of the sheriff's men were gathered in a circle talking in low voices, a traveler who had walked in earlier was seated at the bar, and the bartender, who kept eyeing her, were the only people present. Considering it was still early morning and hours before any others would show up, she found it to be one of the few moments where she felt peace. Nayeon knocked back the rest of her drink and signaled the bartender for more.

Her hand circled the rim of the glass, head empty as she waited for a new one to be placed in front of her. The glass was put in front of her but no steps left after. A frown covered her face as the bartender remained standing. 

“There a problem?” Nayeon lifted her head to find not the bartender but the traveler, and not just any traveler, but someone she once knew; Her breath caught in her throat.

Jihyo gave a wide smile, hair shorter and covered in a wide-brimmed hat, sliding herself and the drink closer to Nayeon. “You tell me partner.” 

She won't deny that it took her a few moments to respond, eyes roamed the familiar yet changed face. Jihyo looked exhausted. Her eyes bruised purple and shoulders hunched contrasted with the easygoing smile.

Nayeon schooled her face back to one of indifference, hand gripping her empty glass.

"You were pretty tough to find." Ignoring the lack of response and taking a swig of her own drink, she boxed her in the booth. Nayeon vividly remembered the last time they saw each other, a messy affair that resulted in her fleeing to this out of the way town. She refused to relive those days and continued to remain silent.

“Had to pry the information out of Jeong ya’know?”

A sharp sigh escaped her,  _ damn it Jeongyeon _ . She was the only one to know where Nayeon had holed herself up and had promised she wouldn’t tell a soul. Jihyo wouldn’t have hurt her, the more likely scenario was she convinced her with something that would persuade Nayeon out of this self isolation.

“What do you want Jihyo?” 

She placed a piece of paper between them. In bold letters “Wanted Dead or Alive” across the top and a crude drawing of a man with a bandana wrapped around his neck. No name and a hefty bounty beneath the picture. A low whistle left her involuntarily.

“He’s been trouble for the trains recently.”

She eyed the price again. “Gotta be a lot more than just ‘trouble’ for this bounty.”

“A bunch of rich city folk want him gone.” Jihyo shrugged. “Want to continue coming through our parts it seems.”

Nayeon hummed, understanding why Jeongyeon had given her location but refusing to agree. “Again, what do you want?”

Jihyo’s staring, searching for something in her face. She tries not to show just how affected she is by her appearance. It’s jarred her to be confronted with such a familiar face; she'd only sent letters to Jeongyeon on occasion, just a reminder that she was still breathing.

“Jeong said you’d been here for quite sometime now, must be getting restless sitting in a boring town after all the traveling you’re used to.”

She hates how well she’s still able to read her. It shouldn’t be fair, but Nayeon’s been living this life long enough to know things are never fair. “I’ve left that life behind me.”

A scoff. “What we did, what we do, that never leaves you. You should know that better than most. Plus,” Jihyo grins. “You haven’t really changed.” She glanced down to her hand, she’d been tapping the side of the glass in a pattern, a habit she developed in the space between bounties. Of course Jihyo would remember that.

She downed the last out of her own glass and folded the paper back up before standing. “I’ll be waiting by the stables.”

Jihyo walked leisurely out the building. Nayeon bitterly drank the still full glass in front of her and went to pack her things.

-

Before Nayeon came to the town, she had been one of the best bounty hunters in the business. Born as a cattle farmer’s daughter had her living a simple life but left her wanting more, she’d read the papers and novels on outlaws being caught and the freedom of those who led their lives with only the possibility that they could survive. The first chance she got landed a small amount of money after turning a robber in, and she never looked back since; plus, it helped that she had a talent for tracking people. She’d done so well at her job people started searching for her to catch those efficient at evading the law.

Before Nayeon met Jihyo, she’d never thought of settling down. She associated that with a life filled with boredom and repetition. Jihyo made her reconsider. When it was the two of them after a successful capture and she gave her widest smile, the one where Jihyo’s eyes disappeared and her gums were present, the one she’s privileged enough to see; Nayeon could, for a moment, imagine them living in a house and raising animals together. An honest life.

Jihyo destroyed that fantasy when she had left with only a note tucked against Nayeon’s sleeping form.

-

There’s not much for her to pack even after living in one place for almost half a year. Her horse is already saddled up when she arrives, Jihyo soothingly ran a hand through her mane. She goes through the motions of hitching her possessions to the saddle, ignored the smirk sent her way and looked down in impatience.

“Where was he headed?”

Jihyo hopped on her own horse. “Further north, that’s where people think he’s hiding out.”

The first few hours were rough, neither talked as they traveled, only the sound of hooves hitting the ground and the wind whipping around them. Even with the awkwardness Nayeon felt herself relax as they continued on, it was a familiar setting: the open space, her horse beneath her, and Jihyo.

There were moments where she wished to bridge the gap between them, to reach out and go back to the banter that filled their times while chasing down people. But she wasn’t going to be the one to do that. It shouldn’t fall on her to fix them, not when it wasn’t her fault to begin with.

The first two days are filled with that silence of unspoken words. When they had settled down the first night after riding for hours, Jihyo had brushed a hand against her back. Nayeon jerked away, body moving away from the source of warmth. Her mind was in overdrive replaying the brief weight she’d felt. Even after they’d lain down in separate tents, the heat of Jihyo’s hand was still present in the morning.

The third day is when Jihyo decides to be talkative. She talked about the dream she’d had the night before, one where she had been chased by coyotes, she talked about how they would soon come across woods instead of flat lands, she talked about how they would be entering cooler weather. Anything to make up for the previous silence. 

Nayeon wasn’t sure if she had been looking for a response so she stuck to listening. Then she started making comments, one word acknowledgments to things said. She pretended not to see how Jihyo’s face lit up each time.

They’d come up to more trees at this point and were getting close to a town on the outskirts before it got more dense. Jihyo had gotten her to talk more as night fell and they set up camp, Nayeon even smiling at a few jokes said. The moonlight was bright as Nayeon poked at the fire, eyes raised as the other woman started shifting.

Jihyo reclined back to gaze at the stars. "Don't you remember how we used to be?"

_ Of course I remember. I remember the way you put your arms around my shoulders; I remember the way you placed kisses on my mouth; I remember the way you looked at me with hunger; I remember the way your hands slide across my back. _

What came out was, "I remember the way you left."

The flash of hurt that crossed Jihyo's face almost made her regret the comment. 

“I-” A hand rubbed down her face. “I want to apologize, I shouldn’t have left like that.”

Anger that she had built up all those months suddenly surfaced quick and fast, she stabbed hard at the flames. “You’re right, you shouldn’t have done that. You should have at least had the decency to tell me to my face instead of sneaking out into the night while I slept. That was cowardly.”

Jihyo hunched down, refusing to look in her eyes. It was easy to tell how chastised she was from that one word. “I was scared and I thought it would be easier.”

A bitter laugh escaped. “Was it? Was it easier? You broke my heart. I thought we were partners, I thought we were in this together. God, I thought,” She rubbed furiously at her eyes. “Well doesn’t matter what I thought.

“We are, it does.” Jihyo’s quick to stand, “We’re partners; Nayeon we’re more than that.”

They stare at each other. Jihyo’s chest heaving and the fire reflected in her eyes; the air charged with everything between them. It’s heavy and Nayeon thought she felt the ground shake at the step Jihyo took forward. The next step brought her closer, and she held her breath. A fire spread across her skin when Jihyo covered her shaking hands.

“You mean so much you don’t understand; Jesus, Nayeon you’re my  _ partner _ .”

It was overwhelming. The emphasis on the word, the familiar warmth of hands, the fire crackling, Nayeon’s only field of vision filled with Jihyo’s face. Her mind didn’t know what to focus on, vision tunneled in on Jihyo. But when she leaned in her thoughts went back to the letter, and with a heavy heart, stepped away.

“We’ll be in town by noon tomorrow, let's get some rest.”

The fire is snuffed out and Nayeon crawled into her tent, the dejected look imprinted on the backs of her eyelids as she fell asleep.

-

Jihyo grew up as the daughter of a sheriff in a small town. She had been set to follow her father’s steps until outlaws had descended on them. They’d raided everyone of their coins and had burned down a few buildings before they decided to kidnap her for ransom. As they were leaving, a shot rang out and killed the man gripping her. The others soon followed as their bodies hit the ground; lucky for her a bounty hunter had been chasing that outlaw.

“And I was starstruck.” Jihyo’s spread out next to her, eyes looked up while Nayeon found hers tracing her face. “I couldn’t stay still after that, staying in one town just wasn’t for me.”

“Could it be?” Nayeon clarified at the confusion in Jihyo’s eyes when she turned. “You think you could stay in one place in the future?”

Their faces were close, Nayeon could feel her breath fan across her face, her eyes searching and hoping that Jihyo didn’t see how invested she was in the answer. It felt like she was baring her deepest desires to the other woman, a vulnerable moment shared between just them. It was so easy to get lost in the atmosphere like this, when they were the only two around for miles and she was the only one privileged to experience this.

A sly smile covered her face and Jihyo rolled on top of her, thighs framed her hips. "Why, you trying to get rid of me?" 

She's distracting her and Nayeon can safely say it's working as her hands crawled up clothed skin. "Just curious if you've ever thought about it, a couple cows, some horses, and a house of course."

Jihyo's hands were making quick work of her shirt, sliding across her stomach. "Mmm of course."

"Could you?" Jihyo stopped her movements and stared again. Her eyes searched, as they always seemed to do; Nayeon could never figure out what she was for. "Jihyo?"

She leaned down and kissed her, all desperate and wanting. It left Nayeon chasing after her lips when she pulled away, letting out a groan when Jihyo's lips found her neck. Nayeon soon forgot about her questioning after that.

-

They get to town the next afternoon, once again silent between them. It was quiet as they made their way to the saloon, there wasn't a single soul they passed by on their way there. The building was just as empty, only the bartender cleaning the counter.

He eyed them warily, setting down a drink for each of them and unsurprised when they laid the wanted paper down.

"You're not the first to get here." Is all he says, back to wiping down a few spots. "He's out by mountains, there's a few caves he hides out in."

Nayeon narrowed her eyes. That had been way to easy and the man didn't seem to be scared of giving up the information. "Why are you telling us?" 

"He told us to tell others if people like you ever asked, think he likes the challenge, and if one of you is able to get rid of him? Well that helps us out."

Still unsure at this, she and Jihyo finish their drinks and strategize on how best to do this. They decide that striking at night would be best, even if he may be on the alert, if there are any men with him they may be less careful. Jihyo had even pulled out dynamite she had stored, just in case they may need it to try to cause a rockslide.

She raised an eyebrow at that, but nodded along. They agreed it would be better to wait out by the mountains until nightfall. As they gathered up their supplies, what would come after this became a louder thought in her head. Nayeon was still angry at Jihyo, but that had dissolved as they spent the time together to get here. It reminded Nayeon of why she enjoyed traveling and Jihyo. These things bounced around her head as they camped out nearby one of the caves.

“Why did you ask for my help?”

It’d been bothering her, Jihyo could easily gotten others she knew or even gone in by herself. There was no reason for her to contact Jeongyeon then go out of her way to track her down to a small town.

“Huh?” Jihyo’s eyes remained on the cave entrance, palming her dynamite. 

“You really could have done this yourself, you had the supplies, it wasn’t that difficult to find their hideout." Jihyo froze. "This would have been easy money for you to collect even with the guys claim on being challenged, so why did you come to find me?”

"What you said," She took a deep breath, still looking at the cave. "About me being cowardly, you were right."

Nayeon let out a breath, "Jihyo."

"And I guess I thought I could apologize this way, but I've done a pretty bad job, huh?" She let out a harsh laugh afterwards. “So if you want to leave right after this with your half of the reward I won’t stop you.”

“Why did you leave.”

“What?” She looked confused at the change in topic.

Nayeon moved closer into the space crowding her. “Why did you leave that note then leave.”

“I-I was scared. You kept bringing up settling down and I didn’t think I could do that for you.”

Jihyo looked so regretful at the admission. Nayen didn't know how to say that they didn't have to settle down, that she would have followed her anywhere, that she was always looking to her for where they were headed next, that wherever Jihyo went that was her home. She settled for a more brief expression.

“You're an idiot.”

Her mouth opened and closed before a noise broke them out of their moment and a group of men walked up to the cave opening. It was unspoken that they would discuss afterwards and Nayeon couldn’t help but feel giddy at the outcome. 

Their bounty was clear among the few men, it seemed he really was arrogant in himself. She nodded to Jihyo at the dynamite, they would wait for most of them to enter then toss, hopefully causing the rocks to take down most of the men. It wasn't long before they all entered and Jihyo lit the dynamite, both watched as it arced into the entrance and rolled slightly inside. 

As soon as it blew the two of them took off, firing shots within. There hadn’t been any cave in or rockslide, but a few did come down and seemed to hit some men, leaving them easier targets. She and Jihyo worked like a well-oiled machine, quickly firing off into the dust cloud that had formed, when one ran out of bullets and the other would continue firing.

They slowly made their way further in until the dust had settled and they found their bounty with an empty gun in his hand. Nayeon knocked him out and set about tying him as tight as possible, already thinking ahead to when they leave this place.

“Hey Nayeon,” She turned toward Jihyo with a triumphant smile that disappeared when she saw her leaning heavily on one side as her hand held over a blossoming red spot. She forgot about their bounty instantly. “Sorry.”

Nayeon quickly hauled Jihyo on the horse so that she was leaning against her front, muttering under her breath. "Don't you dare die on me."

Jihyo just groaned in response, hand clutched against her side as they rode back to town. They had to make it back before any infection could set in or Jihyo lost more blood. Nayeon’s ears rang as she remained hyper aware of what could go wrong.

“I still haven’t forgiven you.” Jihyo let out a strained huff. Nayeon could feel her eyelashes fluttering against her neck. “So you can’t die before I’ve forgiven you.”

"You're so stubborn," She chuckled weakly then her eyes rolled back into her head and she went limp. Nayeon urged her horse on faster, desperate to make it back to town.

-

“She just left?”

Jeongyeon’s voice was in disbelief. Nayeon rode nonstop to her, only taking small breaks to get there quickly, her horse was getting a well deserved rest from how much she had pushed them. She knew she looked and felt just as bad, eyes bruised and limbs heavy. Her eyes watched as Jeongyeon read the letter.

She and Jeongyeon went back to when she had first started out as a bounty hunter, Jeongyeon a bartender who was the first one to provide her with bounties to chase; she'd met Jihyo once or twice, as she does with most bounty hunters, but knew about her most from the letters Nayeon sent to keep her up to date.

"Did she seem troubled the day before?"

“No she was perfectly fine.” She slumped further into the chair, hands covered her face. “We had just caught this smuggler and were on our way to the next town when she left that. Did I say something?”

“Now,” Jeongyeon came around to kneel by her, hands gently rubbed her back. “I’m sure there are factors we may not know about.”

Nayeon couldn’t help replaying all the kisses they’d shared the day before, the laughter and smiles, how they’d been planning on staying at a saloon for the first time in a while. She could have been nervous, but that also could have been the thrill from their catch. “How could I have missed something like this.”

Jeongyeon continued her motions until Nayeon took a deep breath and stood up. Jeongyeon looked concerned.

“What are you planning?”

“I’m going to retire.”

“Excuse me?” Her eyes widened.

“Jeong it’s,” She took a deep breath. “It’s not worth it, not without her.”

She didn’t say anything to that, just nodded her head and made her promise to write. Nayeon was grateful, she knew this was a rash decision but she didn’t care; there wasn’t pleasure in the job anymore if it wasn’t with Jihyo.

The letter that Nayeon had woken up to that Jihyo left mocked her as she tucked it into her bag. The last words underlined:  _ I’m sorry. _

-

Nayeon’s asleep when Jihyo wakes up. It's the twitching of her hand that alerts her. She shot up and gripped the moving hand tighter and watched as Jihyo's eyes opened. She brought up her hand and placed a kiss on it. 

"You really are an idiot."

Jihyo let out a laugh that left her wincing right afterwards. "How long?"

"Almost two weeks. There was a bullet in your side that the doctor had to remove."

Jihyo pulled her shirt up to look at the bandage across her stomach, she felt around the edges. 

"The bounty?"

Nayeon rolled her eyes, "Don't worry, I went back to get him, you should focus on resting." 

Her eyes were already closed by the time she said that, knocked back out. Nayeon went out and thanked the doctor again before going back into the room. It had almost been a close call, any longer and she would have gotten an infection, a little more left and it would have hit something important. She took her hand again and squeezed, the dangers were always present but it seemed like she had forgotten after away for so long.

Jihyo woke again the next morning, this time ready to leave. Nayeon had tried to convince her to stay, that they had the funds to rest for a few days more but Jihyo had insisted they leave.

The bags were already packed from her days of waiting so all that was left was to pack them onto their horses.

"I'm sorry."

Nayeon turned confused, hands paused. Jihyo continued.

"For the wound but also the letter, I never gave you a proper apology and that's what I should have done when we first met."

Her voice is gruff but she made eye contact. It was sincere, everything she was saying and it made a small smile appear.

"And I was thinking," A blush covered her face now. "About what you'd been saying, about settling down and I think I could do that. If it's with you."

Now her face was in shock, but she grabbed her into a kiss. This one was slow and steady, a promise between the two of them that was filled with a future.

"We have to get land near Jeongyeon."

Jihyo groaned but leaned in again. "She was angry with me when I saw her."

Nayeon chuckled. "Well you'd better fix that, can't have my best friend mad at my partner."

The sun lit up in her eyes at that, and yeah, Nayeon can definitely see herself settled down with Jihyo.


End file.
